Lifestyle Design for a lot of people sounds unrealistic. But it doesn’t have to be. Maybe there is a way to change things around to better reflect the life we want to live.
Even prior to reading Tim Ferris’s Four Hour Work Week years ago, I felt that something was wrong. Something was wrong with living an unfulfilled life of cubicle walls, and soul sucking paper shuffling. I know there is a reality to making a living that we all have to face, but I’d like to introduce you to two people who are challenging some commonly held views on work, and are living examples of alternative ways to think and approach the subject of work. I’ve been interested in designing a life that better reflected what I was most passionate about. But knowing how to do it, in the face of what may appear to be unquestionable facts of life, is why I am exploring this topic(more post to come).
My friend David Risely put it like this:
The standard template of life looks something like this:
- Grow up in suburbia.
- Go to college.
- Get a job.
- Get married and have 2.5 kids.
- Retire at 65.
- Play a little.
- Die
And I’d like to add, that’s if you make it to 65. David has a way of getting right to the point on things. I sometimes beat around the bush. Check out his blog post where he pretty much outlines a life of normalcy, and what can be done to follow this standard plan, or to deviate from this approach, and “create the life you want.”
David Risley blogs at Davidrisley.com Here is the entire blog post, it’s definitely worth reading: It Is About Lifestyle Design (Part One)
Here’s another guy that I read from time to time.
Cody McKibben defines what Lifestyle Design means as simply as he sees it:
To me, lifestyle design means creating the ideal life that I want to live. It means identifying my dreams and goals, and laying out a plan to turn that vision into a reality.
It’s unconventional and sometimes counterculture. So for you pseudo rebels out there, this may be your cup of tea, or ahhh vodka? IDK. Cody McKibben talks about Life Design and Location Independence at his blog Thrilling Heroics, where he challenges the traditional, white picket, two car garage, and 1.5 kids ideal of happiness. This is basically for those who want to explore the idea that they can actually have both time and mobility, in order to do the things that they REALLY want to do.
Check out his blog post & short video. It’s interesting to say the least.
Location Independence and Lifestyle Design are two concepts that I’ve increasingly become interested in, especially as it pertains to creating the flexibility needed to make a greater impact on the world for good. I’m not pushing materialism. I believe that’s just another form of slavery. The idea of making a living, while making a difference, and even having the real time and mobility to have some fun along the way, shouldn’t be pegged as some idealistic fantasy. I will be sharing more of my experiences, as well as the journeys of real people who are challenging conventional views of work and commonly held life philosophies, right here at exploretruth.com. Shouldn’t the 40-80 work hours per week that make up most of our awake life, yield more than drudgery? I welcome your comments.
Check out what Cody McKibben has to say here:
For the full blog post, and to check out his blog, click on link below:
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Written by Veron Graham
Topics: Life, Lifestyle Design